Our Green Party candidates for North Hertfordshire
Arbury: Davina Malcolm Baldock Town: Tim Lee Cadwell: Anni Sander Ermine: Hugh Parker Hitchin Bearton: Deolinda Eltringham Hitchin Highbury: Kruna Vukmirovic Hitchin Walsworth: Will Lavin Hitchwood Offa & Hoo: Nicky Clark Letchworth Grange: David Morris Letchworth South East: Maryla Hart Letchworth South West: Dugald Muir Royston Meridian: Des Stephens
Our Green Party candidates for Stevenage
Bandley Hill: Adrian Busolini
Bedwell: Steven Hodges
Martins Wood: Paul Dawson
Old Town: Jim Borcherds
Pin Green: Naomi Lovelace-Collins
Roebuck: Stephani Mok
Symonds Green: Richard Warr
Woodfield: Elizabeth Sturges
CANDIDATE STATEMENTS
Davina Malcolm: Arbury
I have lived in a small Hertfordshire village for over 40 years. It has made me appreciate nature and the countryside. I want to preserve them for future generations to enjoy. Although Hertfordshire born and bred, I’ve travelled widely and lived in London and abroad. I spent 40 years working in IT, both in industry and teaching, including 7 years at North Hertfordshire College.
I have been involved with a wide range of environmental projects covering flora, fauna and recycling. We have campaigned against the expansion of Luton Airport and West of Stevenage (both issues affecting us yet again). I volunteer with CPRE Herts, checking the 300-500 planning applications made weekly to the District Councils in Hertfordshire. We highlight serious infringements in the Green Belt so that planners can object to the worst cases. I attend Parish Council meetings to speak up for the trees; to promote the “20’s Plenty” campaign to reduce speeding in all Hertfordshire villages; and to demand a better, more integrated, bus service so that all of us can get out and about without a car!
Tim Lee: Baldock Town
I have lived, studied, and worked in Hertfordshire for 40 years, the last 15 in North Herts.
I will campaign for some of the most pressing environmental issues in Baldock, as well as North Herts:
- Implementing 20 mph speed limit in Baldock Residential Area – I am part of the Twenty is Plenty campaign – www.20splenty.org
- Energy security – in Baldock and North Herts we could generate a great deal more electricity from renewable sources.
- Electric Vehicle Charging – I will see that Baldock gets the charging points it needs for the future.
- Protecting our Green Belt -I did not want to see such a massive development on Green Belt doubling the size of Baldock, but by electing me to the council, we can reduce the impact on existing residents.
- Expanding biodiversity – we can create a better environment than monoculture farming.
Anni Sander: Cadwell
I have always been passionate about sustainability. I studied civil engineering and specialised in energy efficient and sustainable building design. Since moving to Hitchin I’ve been very involved in waste and other environmental campaigning. I’m passionate about enabling positive change and making it easier for people to do the right thing for our environment, like running repair cafes, swapping pre-loved clothes and other items, or running socials for family cycling. I have even received an award from North Hertfordshire Council for my work in our local community. I think our councils have the power to do more to ensure a safe and healthy future for us and our children, which is why I stand as a candidate for the Green Party in Cadwell.
Hugh Parker: Ermine
Hugh Parker and his wife have lived in the area for almost 50 years, have three children and six wonderful grandchildren. Hugh had a career spanning more than 40 years responding to marine environmental emergencies around the world offering advice and assistance and resolving claims for compensation from affected communities. He now lives in a rural hamlet on the North Herts/Uttlesford border where he enjoys walks in the beautiful local countryside. He is currently Secretary to the local Green Party with an interest in planning regulations for renewable energy and biodiversity enhancement.
Deolinda Eltringham: Hitchin Bearton
Deolinda actively campaigns for clean air, energy efficiency, local biodiversity, recycling and renewable energy generation. You can read more about her campaign here and on Facebook.
Kruna Vukmirovic: Hitchin Highbury
I am honoured to stand as a Green Party candidate for Hitchin Highbury. Hitchin has been my home for over three years now and I enjoy the wonderful countryside surrounding it. There is so much that needs to be done to protect the environment, stop the loss of biodiversity, clean our rivers and create better, more sustainable lifestyle for our community and future generations.
Will Lavin: Hitchin Walsworth
Will Lavin has lived with his family in Hitchin Walsworth for six years. He is a long-time Green Party member and environmental campaigner. Will is committed to ensuring better air and water quality for Hitchin, and to preserving our green spaces.
Maryla Hart: Letchworth South East
Maryla has lived in Letchworth for 11 years. Maryla works as Fundraising and Sustainability Manager for a charity who focus on homelessness and rebuilding lives through vocational training. She has previously run her own business and worked in NHS Governance, Projects and Admin. Maryla supports the workers strikes and volunteers for Willbury Community Café’s Best Before Stall – which rescues food for the local community that would otherwise go to landfill. She has helped raise two step-children.
Maryla advocates for social, environmental and climate justice and is passionate about building resilient local communities – that are able to adapt and thrive in a changing climate. She is keen to support local businesses and positive community initiatives both in Letchworth and further afield. She is completing a Masters degree in Sustainability.
Maryla is a member of several local environmental groups – taking on organiser, facilitator and co-researcher roles. Maryla was part of a team that co-produced reports on Sustainable housing and Improving Cycling Facilities and Networks in Letchworth and has regularly helped with community events around local food growing. Maryla enjoys growing her own organic produce and is a keen cyclist – often to be seen cycling around Letchworth and our Greenway – attending exercise classes at North Herts Leisure Centre, or meeting friends in town.
Maryla is passionate about: · tackling climate change, · sustainable, energy efficient, future-proofed housing, · improving biodiversity, · protecting the River Ivel and cleaning up our waterways, · advocating for real, effective and well thought through environmental and community action · and a decent quality of life and opportunity for all – within the boundaries our planet can provide for.
Dugald Muir: Letchworth South West
Dugald has spent the last 15 years living in Letchworth, where he has raised his family, run a small business and more recently studied for a Masters in Fine Arts at the University of Hertfordshire. He loves being a part of the vibrant Letchworth community, you may well have seen him helping at a local drama society, volunteering at food waste rescue charity in the town centre, or walking the greenway with his Fox Terrier, Carlo. Sustainability, community and supporting green spaces for all are the foundations of Letchworth and Dugald is passionate they should be at the heart of the approach to building a thriving town for the future.
Paul Dawson: Martins Wood
I had become rather disenchanted with the political system, with the other three main parties unable to offer anything to make real change. Then I heard Jonathan Bartley, then co-leader of the Green Party, speak at the Greenbelt Festival in 2018. Here was something that made sense. After that I joined the Green Party and became an active member.
I am standing as a candidate because I believe that time is running out. We can no longer fiddle while Rome burns. It is time to offer voters a real choice, for a fairer, greener country.
Jim Borcherds: Stevenage Old Town
I moved to Stevenage in 1989. I taught at Marriotts School for 12 years and now work as an Education Consultant supporting Secondary schools across Hertfordshire and beyond with their timetables.
I am Secretary of the local Cycling UK Stevenage group and have been involved on the campaigning side of the group’s activity which has involved writing comments on planning applications for various developments.
I was a member of the Stevenage Citizens Panel for Climate Change in October 2020 and have been pushing Stevenage Borough Council to publish the results of the panel’s work. As a result of this, I have developed a good relationship with the current executive member for Environment and Climate Change, Simon Spellar.
I attended the Stevenage High Street consultation in March 2022 and raised the idea of levelling off the High Street to enable access to all, which is one of the main ideas put forward in the report. During the meeting I was able to have good conversations with attendees of different political persuasions.
I have worked, over several years, to get my employer to sign up to a Cycle to Work scheme, which has now been successful, enabling me to purchase a Brompton bicycle that I can use to travel further, and at rush hour, using public transport rather than a car, the challenge now is to get more of my colleagues to do the same.
I have tried to raise the profile of Green issues through writing letters to the Comet newspaper and have managed to get a number published since the elections in May 2022. As a result of a letter about the new Bus Interchange, I had a tour of the facility with both Simon Spellar and the executive member for Economy, Enterprise and Transport, Lloyd Briscoe.
I have asked questions at council meetings over Green issues, which have resulted in my being invited to join an Active Travel consultation group with Stevenage Borough Council.
For the changes that we need to be made, we must make it easier for people to choose the greener option. With the current cost of living crisis, the opportunity is there to look at ways people can use less energy in their home and for transport which would help reduce their costs as well as helping reduce energy use. Enabling more public transport use, more active travel participation and improving the insulation of homes are key areas that Stevenage Borough Council should be actively promoting.
